Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle, which may prevent air leak to an end portion of a separator disposed on an air inflow passageway through which air is introduced from a blower unit to an air-conditioning case and allow a user to rapidly and correctly assemble the separator into the air inflow passageway.
Background Art
An air conditioner for a vehicle is an apparatus for heating or cooling the interior of the vehicle by heating or cooling air introduced from the interior or the exterior of the vehicle and blowing the heated or cooled air to the interior of the vehicle.
Such an air conditioner for a vehicle includes a blower unit for blowing air, and an evaporator unit for cooling the blown air, and a heater core unit for heating the blown air.
In the meantime, recently, a dual zone type air conditioner which respectively supplies air of different temperatures to a driver's seat and a passenger's seat inside the vehicle to cool and heat the interior of the vehicle individually has been developed and applied to vehicles.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air conditioner for a vehicle according to a related art, and FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an inside structure of the air conditioner for a vehicle according to the related art.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the air conditioner for the vehicle includes a blower unit 10, an air-conditioning case 20, an evaporator 30, a heater core 40, and a separator 50 (division wall).
The blower unit 10 inhales air introduced from the interior or the exterior of the vehicle and blows the introduced air to the air-conditioning case 20. The blower unit 10 includes a blower case 11 having an indoor and outdoor air inflow port 13 and a blower 12, which has a structure that a blower fan and a motor are combined and is disposed in the blower case 11.
The air-conditioning case 20 is combined to the blower case 11, and includes an air inflow port 27 for inflow of air and an air outflow port 28 for outflow of air. The air-conditioning case 20 further includes an air passageway 26 disposed inside the air-conditioning case 20 to connect the air outflow port 28 with the air inflow port 27. The air-conditioning case 20 may have a structure that an upper case 21 and a lower case 22 are combined together, and the upper case 21 may have a structure that a left case 21a (driver' side case) and a right case 21b (passenger' side case) are combined together.
The evaporator 30 and the heater core 40 are mounted inside the air passageway 26 in consecutive order to be spaced apart from each other at a predetermined interval, and function to respectively cool and heat the air blown from the blower unit 10.
The separator 50 divides the air passageway 26 into a left air passageway 26a and a right air passageway 26b on the basis of the evaporator 30. The separator 50 may be a division wall extending from the air inflow port 27 to the air outflow port 28. The separator 50 includes a first separator 51 disposed at the upstream side of the evaporator 30 and a second separator 52 disposed at the downstream side of the evaporator 30. The second separator 52 may have a structure that the left case 21a and the right case 21b are respectively assembled to the opposite sides thereof.
An air volume control door 25 for controlling air volumes distributed to the left air passageway 26a and the right air passageway 26b is disposed at the upstream side (front end) of the separator 50, namely, at the first separator 51. Temperature-adjusting doors 25 for controlling temperature are disposed between the evaporator 30 and the heater core 40. The temperature-adjusting doors 25 may be respectively mounted on the left and right air passageways 26a and 26b. Moreover, a plurality of mode doors 24 are respectively mounted at the air outflow ports of the left and right air passageways 26a and 26b to carry out various air discharge modes, such as a vent mode, a bi-level mode, a floor mode, a mixing mode, and a defrost mode, while controlling the degree of opening of the corresponding air outflow ports 28.
In the air conditioner for a vehicle having the above-mentioned structure, the indoor air or the outdoor air introduced into the air-conditioning case 20 by the blower unit 10 is distributed to the left and right air passageways 26a and 26b by the separator 50, is cooled while passing through the evaporator 30, and then, is selectively heated by the heater core 40. After that, the indoor air or the outdoor air is supplied toward the driver's seat or the passenger's seat in the interior of the vehicle through the air outflow ports 28 formed at the downstream side of the air passageways 26a and 26b to cool or heat the driver's seat space or the passenger's seat space in the interior of the vehicle.
Moreover, the air volume control door 23 mounted at the front of the evaporator 30 and the temperature-adjusting doors 25 respectively mounted on the left and right air passageways 26a and 26b of the air-conditioning case 20 may respectively control temperature and volume of the air discharged to the driver's seat and the passenger's seat. For instance, when the air volume control door 25 is controlled, seventh-stage air volume is supplied to the driver's seat, and first-stage air volume is supplied to the passenger's seat.
When the lower case 22 is combined after the evaporator 30 is assembled to the inside of the left and right cases 21a and 21b, the air conditioner is assembled. In this instance, the evaporator is combined to an evaporator mounting hole 55 formed in the separator 50 to penetrate laterally. In order to assemble the evaporator 30 with the separator 50, the evaporator mounting hole 55 has an area over a predetermined size to insert and mount the evaporator 30 thereinto. However, due to such a structure, when the evaporator 30 and the separator 50 are assembled with each other, a predetermined gap (d) is formed between the evaporator 30 and the separator 50.
Due to the gap (d) between the evaporator 30 and the separator 50, air leaks to the left air passageway 26a and the right air passageway 26b, and it is a factor to interrupt an independent control of dual zone air volumes. For instance, in case of controlling the driver's seat with the seventh-stage air volume and the passenger's seat with the first-stage air volume, because the air of the left air passageway 26a with higher-stage air volume leaks into the right air passageway 26b and increases also the air volume of the passenger's seat, the conventional air conditioner causes deterioration in control of air volume.
In the meantime, the separator 50 is completely assembled when an end portion of one side thereof is inserted into one side of the right and left cases 21a and 21b in a state where the lower case is separated from the right and left cases 21a and 21b. 
As described above, while the separator 50 is inserted, the end portion of one side of the separator 50 collides against a curved form of the inside of the air-conditioning case 20, so the end portion of one side of the separator 50 or the inner wall surface of the air-conditioning case 20 is damaged. Accordingly, the conventional air conditioner is disadvantageous in that the air leak through the gap (d) becomes more severe.
Furthermore, the conventional air conditioner is disadvantageous in that the separator 50 is misassembled and productivity of the air conditioner is deteriorated due to deterioration in assemblability by contact between the end portion of the separator 50 and the inner form of the air-conditioning case 20.
Meanwhile, there are no repeated description and illustration because the conventional air conditioner is a well-known technology and is described in related art documents in detail.